Art

Lions, Tigers, Bears, even Sharks – my two little girls love anything related to animals and from an early age have been drawn to them in books and toys and are the inspiration for many of their imaginary games – Some of my youngest daughters first words were bird and dog.

Sharon Montrose is the artist behind The Animal Print Shop and she has created a beautiful collection of her real animal fine art photography. She has a huge following and it’s easy to see why. Her series Little Darlings make a statement in any little girl or boy’s nursery or bedroom.

I love Tara Neal’s vintage airplane watercolors. They look great in groups of 3, 6 or 9 framed with simple black or white frames. The beautiful colours in these prints just pop and would look great in any boy’s nursery or room. You can order these beautiful prints from Tara’s Etsy’s site.

Penguin Books was launched in 1935 by Sir Allan Lane with the goal of producing high-quality and affordable paperback fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. The distinctive tri-band cover design was created by Edward Young and used the simple colour scheme as a way of identifying the genre of the book. Red was for drama, green was for crime, cerise was travel and adventure, dark blue was for biographies, grey was for world affairs, purple for essays and yellow for miscellaneous titles and the most popular was orange for general fiction.

The bright colours and simple design has become very popular and I’ve seen these book covers framed not only in kids rooms, but used in bathrooms, living rooms and adult bedrooms.

Tracy Kendall’s Airhead scroll looks great printed in pink and framed in a simple white frame. I once saw it featured in Andrea Lenczner’s little girls room in the September 2008 issue of House and Home and immediately fell in love with Kendall’s work. I can’t find the image I saw in House and Home, but below the scroll in black. Tracy Kendall’s artwork is available through Hollace Cluny in Toronto.

Anna Bond has a series of botanical prints that look great framed in pairs. These are available through Rifle Paper Co.

Penguins in tutu’s, squirrels with antlers and donuts on their head – who wouldn’t love these beautiful watercolours by Deidre Hicks. My cousin recently had a baby girl and framed a series of her prints in her daughter’s room. They looked beautiful and were youthful without being too cutesy or limiting to a baby’s room. Deidre’s Etsy store is called Water in My Paint.